Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
We have an Omega in need!
Roman
I’ve been pacing my office for the last few hours running through all the possibilities of what could have really happened to my Rosie.
But none of them quite make sense. Harrison’s research has come up pretty empty on his front other than the newspaper articles I already knew about, and it’s been driving me crazy.
With something akin to guilt. I’m on the one hundred-something lap of my office floor when I hear a commotion from upstairs.
“Get your asses up here now. We have an Omega in need.” The shout rips through the house like a gunshot. And my heart slams into my ribs. My thoughts begin to race a mile a minute with the worst of the worst outcomes.
Is something wrong with Rosie? Not Rosie, Karma.
Has she reached a point of no return?
Is she hurt? Well, worse, she was already hurting.
Theo and I move at the same time, sprinting down the hall and taking the stairs two, even three at a time, towards the guest room.
Something in Harrison’s voice, the panic, the urgency, makes every instinct in my body flare up.
She can’t be too far gone because I can’t lose her again.
Even though I know she is not the same sweet Rosie I knew.
Rosie, Karma, or whatever she wants to call herself—she is mine. Ours.
The door is half open when we reach it, and Theo wastes no time shoving it the rest of the way open.
We’ve barely taken a step into the room when we both freeze.
Karma is sprawled across the bed, her bare skin flushed and glistening with sweat, her bright red hair tangled across the pillow like blood splatter.
The room is thick with the scent of her heat and the wild rose, jasmine, and honeysuckle scents that have become the only scents I crave to inhale.
It’s so strong now that it hits like a physical force.
But that’s not what stops me cold.
No, it’s Harrison who is between her long creamy legs.
Half-dressed and licking his lips like he just tasted the most decadent dessert ever made.
I can’t process the bigger picture at the moment.
Everything with it in front of me, clear as day.
Our woman’s back is arched off the bed, her gorgeous green eyes are rolled back, and her fingers are gripping Harrison’s shaggy blonde hair with tight fists.
But they aren’t pushing him away; no, she is trying to pull him closer.
I’m seeing all this but only processing that this entire time this woman has told us to fuck off and rather die than let us touch her. Something has changed; I can smell it in the air, but for half a second, my vision goes red with fury.
How dare he take advantage of her like this?! He might be my brother from another family, but I cannot forgive this. Rosie is supposed to be mine. Theo must come to the same conclusion because beside me he lets out a deep growl.
“What the hell—” he snarls.
I’m already stepping forward, rage burning through my veins; the Alpha instinct to protect and punish this other Alpha for disrespecting an Omega in need roars to life.
But I’m two steps in when Karma lifts her head.
Her eyes are glassy with need, pupils blown wide, lips parted as she drags in a shaky breath.
“This… doesn’t mean anything,” she manages, her voice strained but sharp enough to cut through my flesh. “This is just to get me through my heat. That’s it.”
Her gaze flicks between the three of us, daring anyone to argue with her. We all keep our mouths shut tight.
“No attachments. No claims. You are not mine; I belong to none of you.” She once again stares at each of us.
First Harrison, who is still between her legs, nods.
Then to Theo, who looks to be slightly glaring at her.
But not in disagreement, but more of a challenge.
Lastly, she looks at me, and the moment her greens meet my grays, I’m almost sucked down another rabbit hole of memories, but I force myself to breathe through it.
It doesn’t change the fact that her words felt more aimed at me than at any of the others, which sends a pang through my chest.
Theo exhales slowly, his jaw tight.
“Fine,” he bites out, sounding almost too relaxed about her words.
But I know Theo. His tone says it all; he doesn’t mean it for a second. Theo starts pulling his shirt over his head without another word, and my feet move to do the same before my brain catches up.
“Wait.”
All of them stop and stare at me like I’ve lost my goddamn fucking shit.
And honestly, I think I have. There is an Omega in need laid out in front of me, who is finally asking us for help with her heat.
Our scents match at that, but this isn’t just some Omega we just met.
It’s a girl I thought was dead for years.
Karma groans softly against the pillow, clearly not thrilled about the delay, but I barely hear it over the war raging in my head. Because now that I’m close enough… Now that her scent is crawling down my throat and lighting every nerve ending on fire… I need to know the truth.
“What happened to you?”
For a moment something flashes across her face.
Pain, but then it fades to annoyance. The guys are staring at me again, this time with a look that screams, 'You're really doing this now,' but I can’t help it.
I need answers. She shakes her head hard, hair shifting across the pillow as another shudder rolls through her body.
Harrison runs his hands up her thighs and tries to tell me something with a shake of his head.
Not right now, he mentally says, but he doesn’t know how it feels to think you lost your only scent match for life, only for her to show up years later claiming to be an infamous serial killer that a lot of powerful Alphas want dead.
“No talking,” she gasps between breaths. The scent filling the room spikes. “No memory lane. Not right now.” Her eyes snap to mine, fierce even through the haze. Clearly, saying this is her final warning.
“All you need to know is the Rosie you knew is dead.”
The words land like a punch to the chest.
“And she’s never coming back.”
My fists clench. Every instinct I have screams to push, to demand the truth, to drag every answer out of her until this makes sense. But the room is drowning in her scent.
Sweet.
Burning.
Calling to my soul.
“If you can’t accept that as your answer right now, then leave Roman.
Karma needs us right now, and you aren’t helping.
” I was expecting these words to come from Harrison, our peacemaker, but I’m shocked when they come from a murderous-looking Theo who is glaring at me.
Daring me to challenge him on this right now.
The fight drains from me in an instant. He’s right; she is suffering right now and needs us more than I need my answers. My pulse hammers as the edges of the rut start to creep in, the need rising fast and hot under my skin with each inhale of breath I take.
A minute passes in silence as “Karma” and I stare at each other. Then I drag a hand through my hair and step closer to the bed, my hands moving to unbutton my shirt.
“Fine,” I mutter roughly. Her shoulders loosen just slightly, looking almost relieved.
But as I sit beside her on the bed, I lean down enough that she can feel my hot breath against her lobe.
“You’ll get through this,” I say. Making sure she doesn’t misinterpret the promise in my voice.
Glancing up, my eyes hold hers.
“And when you do…”
My jaw tightens, but I give her a little smirk anyway.
“I’m getting my answers.”
One way or another.